After the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final stages, Aston Villa have it all to do. Unai Emery’s men lost 3-1 away against Paris Saint-Germain.

Despite opening the scoring through Morgan Rogers, Villa were quickly pegged back thanks to a wonderful goal from Desire Doue. Second-half strikes from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Nuno Mendes would see the game end with PSG in an extremely strong position.

Adding to their two-goal advantage ahead of the return leg at Villa Park, Luis Enrique and co have something else going in their favour. Indeed, they don’t have to play a game this weekend, meaning they can keep their star players fresh before making the trip to England.

Related

What Fans Said About Marco Asensio’s Display For Aston Villa vs Parent Club PSG

Bizarrely, the loanee could play in the Champions League vs the teams he belongs to and fans have made their feelings on his performance very clear.

Why PSG Don’t Have to Play Nantes

Allowed to rest players ahead of Champions League clash

A Ligue 1 match with Nantes was initially scheduled for 13 April. This meant PSG would have to play on Sunday ahead of the second leg at Villa Park on Tuesday (15 April). However, much to the delight of the French club, their proposal to Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) to postpone the Nantes fixture was granted.

According to French reports (via TalkSport), the fixture has been moved to 22 April, meaning they will not play a game in between the two Champions League ties. It appears to have sparked some controversy, however, with Nantes unhappy with the outcome – they believe the LFP are ‘undermining the fairness and integrity’ of Ligue 1.

While the team from Paris can put their feet up and relax this weekend, the Aston Villa players won’t be granted the same luxury. Indeed, they play Southampton on Saturday (12 April) in the Premier League.

Fans online we not happy when learning about the news. One said: “What a joke.” Another wrote: “This is basically an unfair advantage.”

A third supporter wrote: “Cheat code, our PL wouldn’t do that for Villa.” A final fan admitted that it makes Villa’s chances of a comeback in harder, writing: “Winning by 2 goals next week is not impossible but it’s going to take something very special, especially as Nantes rolled over and have PSG the weekend off.”